Pandemic Pushes Hunger in Latin America, Caribbean to 15-Year High, UN Says

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean reached the highest level since 2000, mainly due to COVID-19, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Tuesday.

"According to the Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2021, in just one year, and in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people living with hunger increased by 13.8 million, reaching a total of 59.7 million people," PAHO said in a press release.

The prevalence of hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean now stands at 9.1 percent, the highest it has been in the last 15 years, although slightly below the world average of 9.9 percent. Just between 2019 and 2020, the prevalence of hunger increased by 2 percentage points, the release said.

In addition, four out of every ten people in the region - 267 million - experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2020, 60 million more than in 2019, an increase of 9 percentage points, the most pronounced rise in relation to other world regions, the release added.

The UN Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2021, was jointly produced by six UN agencies, including PAHO.

It calls for urgent actions by nations in the region to make their agri-food systems more efficient, resilient, inclusive and sustainable.